Balance
by WiseGryffindor
Summary: Draco Malfoy strives to find balance in life, will meeting Hermione change that? Written for QFLC season 7, round 2.


**Quidditch League FanFiction Competition Round 2  
Beater 2 - Wigtown Wanderers **

**Prompts  
Main  
Write about a character who is so obsessed with 'establishing balance' in life that they forget to live in the moment.**

**1\. (theme) struggling to differentiate between fantasy and reality  
2\. (emotion) regret**

**3\. ****(characteristic trait) that of a Sagittarius****  
**  
Balance, what does it mean? It can be equal or the same. But it could mean scripted too, and that is what Draco Malfoy's life seemed to be—scripted. Every morning at exactly seven in the morning, Draco woke up. His room was sparsely decorated. As he sat up he could clearly see the harsh red light of his alarm clock, like every other day it read 7:00. In a practiced motion, Draco rolled out of his bed and stood on his feet. In a timely manner, he made himself presentable for work and walked down to the kitchen to make breakfast. His breakfast consisted of two scrambled eggs with cheese and spinach. On his plate, there also was a piece of multigrain toast and an orange. He ate his breakfast while drinking a glass of milk. Everything was the same as the day before, and the day before that, and on since the end of his time at Hogwarts. During breakfast, all that Draco could think about were the bad decisions he had made in the past. In part this was because he visited his parents the day before, both were under house arrest, his mother had said she was proud while his father had shouted about his business dealings in the muggle world. Privately Draco thought that his father would always hate muggles, but his mother always said he was getting better.

His entire time at Hogwarts was one bad decision after another. He bullied students he thought he was better than because of his lineage. Because of being a pure-blood. It was during his time at school that he made the two worst choices he ever made. One of them was joining Voldemort and becoming a Death Eater. The other was not telling Hermione how he felt. Draco and many other seventh years returned to Hogwarts to retake their final year, Hermione was among them. All the seventh years shared a single dorm, and as such, spent a considerable amount of time together. Draco and Hermione became friends, Draco was going to tell her how he felt, but the day he was going to, Hermione told him that Ron had asked her out. Devastated, Draco distanced himself from Hermione. His thoughts soon turned to the good choices he had made, the best one was to become friends with Theo and Blaise.

Once his breakfast was finished it was half-past seven in the morning, and time for his morning jog. Every morning Draco jogged to work, it took precisely eleven minutes for him to arrive at his office. He said hi to his assistant before entering his office. Draco was a successful businessman, who ran businesses in both the magical and muggle worlds. Currently, he was in the process of finalizing a deal that would see him become the richest wizard in the world.

At five on the dot, Draco packed his work up, said goodbye to his assistant, and walked home. It was 5:11 when he arrived home. Dinner was a simple affair and only done out of necessity. Theo and Blaise were meeting Draco at a bar at seven.

The bar was loud and filled with smoke, in recent years the wizarding community had taken up smoking. Very few understood how bad smoking was. It was rather easy to spot his friends as there was a group of girls around them. Theo was married to Pansy Parkinson and Blaise was engaged to Daphne Greengrass. Both were committed in their relationships and would never cheat. Mostly they came to bars to set Draco up and drink. An hour later Draco was heading home. When he arrived home he picked up his favourite book and began to read. It was nine when Draco finally went to bed.

Screams filled Draco's house. He sat up with a jolt, he had dreamed about Voldemort again. Ever since the war had ended every night he dreamed about those he loved being killed by Voldemort because he betrayed him.

For Draco time almost didn't exist, everything was like clockwork, nothing changed. Every day was the same, time blended together. Everything was a blur. Secretly Draco's friends were worried about him.

Today was like any other. Draco woke up from a nightmare about Voldemort torturing his mother and eventually he fell back into a restless sleep. He rose at seven and ate his breakfast before jogging to work. Today Draco was interviewing a new assistant as his last one had left for health reasons. Before she left, his old assistant had picked two applicants she thought would work. Today he had his interview with the second one. The first interview he had was the day before with a girl who was in his year, Hannah Longbottom, who had married Neville the year before.

Draco took a seat in his office at 7:45; fifteen minutes before the interview was set to start. At exactly eight a knock rang out in his office.

"Come in," Draco called, standing up. He froze. In the doorway was Hermione Granger. His mind turned to mush, she looks like a goddess, but he could see something in her eyes, possibly grief.

"Is this real? Is it really you?"

Yes, Draco, it is."

Quickly he gathered his bearings and shook her hand before asking her to sit down. The interview went perfectly and by the end, the pair were joking around like they had during their final year at Hogwarts. Draco hired Hermione that very day. Before the interview ended, Draco had one last question for Hermione.

"I ask this as a friend, not a boss. Hermione, has something happened? You seem off," Draco said very carefully, not wanting to upset the feisty witch.

"Nothing, just a lovers spat," Hermione answered quickly, wanting to change topics.

"Okay, you start tomorrow if that is okay," Draco said to Hermione.

"That's perfect, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Hermione responded. Draco gave her a nod before she turned and left his office. Over the course of the day Draco felt his mind keep drifting to Hermione, but every time it did he forced himself to get back to work.

That night when Draco was out with Blaise and Theo at the bar, Draco refused every girl that came up to him. He didn't even entertain the idea for a single second. Blaise and Theo both thought that was odd of him, but when they asked, he just said he wasn't in the mood. Normally Draco would hesitate for a second before letting the girl down, but not today. When he returned home that night he read _Hogwarts: A History_, Hermione favourite book back in school.

That night his nightmares that usually were of his mother were of Hermione, but to make it worse it wasn't his brain making something up, it was something that had actually happened. During the war, Hermione had been tortured in the family home. This was one of the many reasons Draco chose to tear the house down and sell that land, his parents lived on a Black property his mother owned.

The next morning, Draco found he had an abundance of energy, something that was odd because normally he only had enough energy to get through the day. He ate his standard breakfast and began to jog work like normal. Something felt different, he almost felt alive, a feeling that felt so foreign.

Just as Draco sat down to his desk a knock echoed in his office.

"Come in," he called. Hermione entered the room looking upset. Draco waited for Hermione to start. During the pairs last year he had learned that if Hermione wanted you to know something, she would tell you. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Good morning Draco, how are you?" Hermione asked.

"I am doing well, how are you?" Draco responded.

"Good," Hermione said. With that Draco started showing Hermione what exactly her job was. Draco's day went very well and he thought Hermione would be a great assistant. Once again Draco was distracted while hanging out with Theo and Blaise. They thought nothing of it this time, just thought it was something about work.  
they were right, in a way. Draco was thinking about Hermione and analyzing his feelings for her. He vowed to talk to her about it and about what was up with her.

That night Draco tossed and turned. He couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did. Every time his eyes closed he saw Hermione being tortured by his aunt. For the first time since the end of the war, Draco had a sleepless night. Even though he didn't sleep, Draco still ate his normal breakfast and joged to work. At the beginning of the day, he called Hermione into his office.

"Hermione, I can tell something is wrong, please tell me what it is so I can help you," Draco said, just wanting to help.

"It's Ron, I—I—I broke up with him because he was cheering on me! And then he turned all of my friends against me, all the Weasleys, Harry, everyone!" Hermione said as it all came rushing out. Draco stood and wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his shoulder. Every time she came close to stopping she would just start sobbing harder. Draco comfortingly rubbed her back, trying to calm his friend down. Eventually, she stopped but Draco still had his arms wrapped around her.

"Hermione, you are an amazing person. If Ron, Harry and the other Weasleys don't see that they are blind," Draco said.

"Draco, none of that's true, I am just a know it all, boss, bitch," Hermione said, her crying starting again.

"Not to me, not to those who know you. Who love you. To me you are beautiful, amazing, kind, intelligent, organized, helpful, selfless, and a hero. I will always be there for you," Draco said instinctively, not quite realizing what he had said. Hermione looked up at him with a watery smile. Very gently Draco wiped her tears away with his hand.

"I want you to know why I distanced myself from you. It, it, it was because of Ron. Because you two started dating. I didn't want to interfere or cause problems for you. I know Ron doesn't like me, so I decided to make it easier for you," Draco said, his voice trembling.

"I know you and you wouldn't have done that, I think there is something bigger. Draco do you have a crush on me?" Hermione asked, thinking out loud. Draco stared at his shoes for almost a minute. Hermione poked his side yet still he didn't answer. "Draco, I like you. As more than a friend, that is one of the reasons Ron and I didn't work out."

"Ron also looks like an idiot, his hair sticking up everywhere." Hermione let out a giggle at that. "I just wanted you to be happy," Draco sobbed, clinging on to Hermione.

"I know that now, and I love that you want me to be happy, but you didn't answer my question," Hermione said.

"Yes." Draco shuddered at admitting something he had kept secret for so long. "Hermione, before you come back into my life, there is something I need you to know. I am not the boy I was in school, before Voldemort or after. I've changed, I can't do anything spur of the moment. It has to be planned to the letter."

"Draco it's your way of coping, not necessarily a healthy way of doing it, but a way nonetheless."

"I want to change, to get better, but I just don't know how."

"Draco I can help you. But if I am going to help you, you have to want to be helped."

"How?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Hermione, what are you doing after work?"

"Nothing really, why do you ask?"

"I was, um, I was wondering if you would go on a date with me?"

"Draco—"

"You don't have to say yes."

"You didn't let me finish, yes I would like to."

—

After the workday was over, Draco side-along apparated Hermione to his favourite fish and chips place. It was a little shop that deep fried everything.

"Draco, are we in the muggle world?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Even in our last year at Hogwarts, you were afraid of muggles. What changed?"

"You. You were raised in the muggle world and are a wonderful person. After I distanced myself it was a way of keeping a part of you with me."

Draco and Hermione ordered their fish and chips before leaving the shop to walk in a park. Draco held Hermoine's hand and the bag carrying their dinner. They walked through the park until they reached a bench. They sat on the bench and ate their dinner in silence.

"Draco?"

"What is it, Hermione?"

"Why did you join Voldemort?" There it was, the question that he was dreading.

"Part of it was my parents, and part of me actually believed it, until I met Him. He just gave me this feeling. But joining Voldemort wasn't the worst decision I have ever made, that title belongs to distancing myself from you. For the past couple of years every time I think of you or see you in the paper, my heart burns. It was the worst decision I ever made, and I regret it every day with every fibre of my being."

"Oh. Draco I don't blame you. You were hurting. But we are back together now. Forever." Just for a single moment, everything was perfect.


End file.
